July 2022 Patron Newsletter and Staff Picks

The staff is still staggering out of the haze of premieres, but we're so grateful to have you here. You can also look forward to something new we're testing out next weekend. 

In the meantime, enjoy this fresh batch of recommendations!

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July Recommendations

I Love You So Much I Hate You (Standalone)

Format: Manga

Picked by: Alex

What’s it about? Office manager Ayako and up-and-coming career woman Saori are having an affair, a casual after-work fling to work off their respective tensions and hunger for intimacy. But when the co-workers-with-benefits start to develop serious feelings for one another, they have to confront the realities of their situation. Could there be a future in this fleeting relationship?

Content warnings: extramarital affairs; stifling gender roles; depictions of microaggressions/erasure; sex scenes feat. tasteful nudity

Why we like it: Contrary to the enemies-to-lovers vibe the title might imply, I Love You So Much I Hate You is surprisingly sweet. Yes, it’s a spicy romance about businesswomen secretly hooking up, but a tender story unfolds from this somewhat salacious premise. Saori and Ayako are both layered characters, efficiently fleshed out across this self-contained volume, each dealing with their own issues. Watching the relationship between these two conflicted adults deepen, and watching them reckon with their own feelings, is a poignant and interesting experience.

While not the deepest exploration, commentary about the stifling gender roles of Japanese society weaves through the backdrop of the narrative. Ayako feels stagnant in her marriage and trapped by the pressure placed on women to become perfect wives and mothers by a certain age. Saori feels isolated because of her sexuality, resigned to her secret affair even if deep down she wants something more straightforwardly romantic. A well-crafted sense of melancholy follows them both through the story. But, against all odds, these two do get a happy ending, and the whole thing makes for a heartfelt little romance. If you’re growing your collection of yuri about adult women, consider giving this one a shot.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

Format: Middle-grade novel

Picked by: Vrai

What’s it about? 12-year-old Zachary’s world is shaken when he’s chosen to serve as a vessel for his ancestor, First Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang, and given a mission to reseal the portal to the underworld. Zachary, who’s never felt much connection with his Chinese heritage, is reluctant to accept--until his mother is kidnapped.

Content warnings: depictions of microaggressions (Islamophobic, racist, homophobic), discussion of war crimes/historical atrocities, children in peril.

Why we like it: Did I read this because Xiran Jay Zhao called it their homage to Yu-Gi-Oh! and dressed up as Seto Kaiba in their author photo? Yes, that’s entirely why. But I’m glad I did, because this is a fantastic adventure novel. It’s written with an eye toward teaching its readers about Chinese history and folklore, but it never feels stodgy and didactic—if anything it reminded me somewhat of the Leonard Nimoy-narrated cult classic The Halloween Tree, educational but often tense and thrilling.

Zachary is also just a good kid, very shounen-protagonist feeling in his understandable frustration and impulsiveness—the fact that he’s also Muslim and coming to terms with his own queerness was unexpected but cool to see. But what stuck with me most is how much the book turns on grappling with the fact that history is a messy thing, and how to come to terms with the fact that historical figures who’ve done amazing things in one sense are often monstrous in other senses. That’s heady stuff, and the book meets it head-on without feeling condescending or offering an easy answer. While it slugged me with a wicked cliffhanger, I think this is well worth checking out and sharing with the younger fantasy fans in your life.